On the day of a SIZA audit, the auditor will follow a structured approach in line with the SIZA Social Audit Process and Methodology and Environmental Audit Process and Methodology. This structured approach allows the auditors to triangulate information by evaluating the business’s management system overall. The structure will consist of:
1. Opening Meeting
The opening meeting is held at the start of the audit by the auditor(s) with the site’s management. The purpose of the opening meeting is to introduce the auditing team, outline the scope and purpose of the audit, the steps that will be followed during the day(s), and allow for any uncertainties to be addressed that management might have. It is strongly recommended that the opening meeting is conducted in a language that management and the attendees of the opening meeting understand. The following people should attend the meeting:
• Owners
• Senior management
• Human Resource/compliance management
• Environmental representative (Sustainability if applicable)
• Worker committee representatives (if applicable)
• Trade Union representatives or Temporary Employment Service management (if applicable)
2. Site Tour/Survey
The purpose of the employment site tour is to enable the audit team to observe the physical conditions and current practices in all areas of the employment site and to form a view of how physical conditions measure up to the audit requestor’s policy, applicable codes of conduct, legal and regulatory requirements, and any other requirements.
Any findings from the tour should be triangulated with evidence from management and worker interviews and document review. As a general principle, the auditor should be able to visit all the areas of the employment site and should set the pace of the tour. Auditors should make every effort to ensure production is not disrupted during the employment site tour while ensuring they can view the production area during busy production periods. It should be possible to move around the site without delaying or halting production. The ability of management to continue production at the site during a visit is crucial to gaining an accurate idea of working conditions and securing management cooperation for the remainder of the visit.
3. Interviews
Interviews will be conducted with site managers as part of both social and environmental audits, as this is an effective way to understand the business processes and management system better. Social audits will continue further by including interviews with trade union representatives (and/or other workers’ representatives) and workers. These interviews should follow a structured approach to ensure information is gained accurately and correctly. The auditor will select a sample from the workforce to ensure it is representative of the business’s overall structure, i.e., permanent, seasonal labour, Temporary Employment Services (if applicable), different genders of workers, workers from other sites/production facilities, supervisors, specialist positions such as technical leads, chemical handlers, drivers and so forth. The auditor will need to engage with the site to find the most suitable place for the interviews to ensure the following:
• Anonymity of the workers being interviewed
• Suitable location to avoid disrupting production
• Ensuring workers feel safe
The interview process is an extremely important part of the audit and provides insights into everyday experiences and tasks. Therefore, it is exceptionally important that auditors remain objective in evaluating information provided during interviews. Furthermore, auditors must triangulate information with management, document review, and site survey before raising a finding or concluding that a particular practice is present.
4. Document Review
The auditor(s) will conduct a review of various documents, including:
• Business Policies
• Training records
• Business payroll and wage records
• Employment contracts
• Risk-assessments
• Meeting minutes, etc.
Based on the information obtained through the document review, the auditor should be able to determine whether any discrepancies or practices are deemed non-compliant objectively.
5. Audit Team Pre-Closing Meeting
The purpose of the pre-closing meeting is to ensure that the auditor, especially if more than one auditor visited the site, can agree on the findings they have raised. This means they must review all the evidence gathered during the day(s) and ensure it supports their risk evaluation. The auditors must confirm any uncertainties with the site and/or their audit managers before finalising the audit and discussing the final outcome during the closing meeting.
6. Closing Meeting
The purpose of the closing meeting is to go through the findings, agree on the findings, and agree on a corrective action plan that sets out areas for improvement, actions, and timeframes. Corrective actions should focus on sustainable solutions for any problem’s root cause. This meeting should involve all those who attended the opening meeting. The person responsible for correcting non-compliance and submitting these corrections on the MySIZA platform must be present during this meeting. During the closing meeting, the auditor must provide the site with a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) report outlining the findings made during the process. The CAP Report must:
• Be clearly described and presented in a manner that is understandable to management.
• One signed original copy should be provided to the employment site manager, with a copy retained by the auditor and other audit documentation.
Audit companies should implement measures to ensure all auditors adhere to these APM requirements. The audit process is not a judging exercise, and auditors, alongside management commit to operate towards driving continuous improvement in agriculture. The auditing process is one key in the larger chain that forms part of compliance and the agricultural environment.
